Thanks to Lauren’s skills, we were finally able to reach Gothmol.
Lauren slowly sat up. She had a strange aura, but what was she planning? The body of Lord Nephilim she had been controlling was gone.
“You’re that little girl from back then. I’ll add you to my collection.”
Gothmol wore the same creepy smile. He’s such a great character. If this were a book or game, it would be interesting.
“Hiroaki-san, he’s already dead…”
“Huh? So he himself is a corpse?”
So that’s why cutting him open yielded no resistance. I never imagined I’d become a corpse myself. I don’t understand what’s happening, because corpses are supposed to be controlled by Necromancers, right? So is he controlling himself?
“Hey, Lauren.”
Just as I was about to ask, I saw Gothmol move. Pale blue flames ignited in his palm. I instinctively deflected the fireball that was shot at me with my shield.
“Ugh, hot!”
The burst of blue flame enveloped my arm. I shook my arm to forcefully dispel it. At the same time, Lauren, who was behind me, moved swiftly. She approached the enemy and extended her forelegs.
It was exactly the movement of a spider catching its prey. A speed unimaginable from her usual self. However, as light leaked between them, she was blown away.
Lauren clung to the ground with her eight legs, enveloped in smoke. Her claws at the tips of her legs made a creaking sound. They were usually retracted and used for climbing trees.
“Lauren, are you alright?”
Fearsome eyes peeked out from her long, black, drooping hair. Her bloodshot whites rolled, and her pupils moved frantically.
“Geh, it’s useless. After all, I’m dead. No matter what attack comes, I feel nothing.”
Gothmol was about to attack again. A dark aura began writhing like a snake from the ground at his feet. Veronica tried to stop him upon seeing it.
“Veronica, behind you!”
Was her movement anticipated? A Dragonkin corpse lunged from behind Veronica. She wrestled with Gothmol’s puppet. If this is how it is, I have to go.
I approached the enemy with a dagger in hand. But halfway there, my feet suddenly became fixed, unable to move.
“Don’t… go!”
“Huh?”
It seemed too late. Countless shadows were reaching up from my feet and climbing. I couldn’t move as if paralyzed. Moving only my eyeballs, I looked around and saw Gothmol with a lewd smile.
My arms began to move slowly. But I wasn’t doing anything; they were moving on their own. My body turned towards Lauren. Damn it, my body was possessed while I was conscious. Just like Sharin before, he intended to make us attack each other.
“Lauren, sorry, I’ve been possessed.”
She must have noticed too. Yet, there was no sign of her moving. She remained still, as if waiting for something.
“Gah? Agaga.”
Suddenly, Gothmol began to convulse erratically. His joints bent on their own, and he foamed at the mouth.
“Wh-, what’s happening?”
I don’t know why, but thanks to the enemy being distracted, the restraint on my body loosened slightly. I forced myself to move and rammed into Gothmol. His body, smaller than mine, easily lost its balance and rolled over the roof.
“Ugh, agaga, you damn spider woman! Don’t just stand there, help me!”
Then, fire shot from behind the crumbling base of the White Rose. It grazed my cheek and flew backward.
“Anakura…”
Right, he was still here. Now a corpse with his soul merely tethered, he attacked, controlled and without his own will.
I should quickly finish off Gothmol, the main body. Looking closely, something was piercing his side. It was the poisonous claw on Lauren’s foreleg. She had extracted it from a Chimera we defeated before. She deliberately broke off the claw, leaving the stinger embedded in the enemy’s body.
It seems to be effective even on the dead. Now, how to defeat Gothmol… honestly, I don’t know. Because, as Lauren said, he himself is a corpse. Then, where should I attack?
While my gaze wandered, the puppet Ancra began to move. It spun around with its whites showing and lunged.
“Shaaaa!”
“Get away!”
Veronica cut in. Ancra bit Veronica’s arm like a dog.
“Don’t just stand there!”
“S-sorry.”
Ancra, who had bitten Veronica’s arm, suddenly grinned, let go, and stepped back.
“Did you grow fond of this man? If you kill me, he will die with me.”
Has he abandoned his poisoned body and transferred his consciousness to a new vessel? This time, he began to hold Ancra hostage. Letting out a vulgar laugh, he reached into his clothes and searched for something. The fortune-telling cards he had prepared fell out one after another.
“He doesn’t have anything!”
A slight opening. Our eyes met. Lauren beckoned me subtly, as if asking me to send something over.
